Lavender Blossom
by Shishisenkou
Summary: A oneshot fanfiction that may well be a love triangle between a certain female Chosen, a twinbladed warrior, and a cute yet slightly secretive ninja girl. Please R&R! Much appreciated. Sheena x Lloyd, more or less, we'll see.


**Tales of Symphonia**

**Lavender Blossom**

**Saiko Ninja**

Eh-heh, yeah. Off the bat, I'm going to tell you that this is a one-shot fanfic. Even I don't know how this is going to turn out (I'm just going to type along as I go). I might end up writing a continuation even if I finish this one-shot. If this gets some spiffy reviews and some input of what you liked, I won't hesitate to write more on this as long as you (the reader) want more.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Tales of Symphonia, as they are the property of... Erm, Namco, or was it Kosuke Fujishima? Point is I don't any of the characters, etc, etc.

--

A young man no older than seventeen sat on the sturdy edge of the cliffs of the Fooji Mountains. Scanning the scenery about him, the time of day was midnight. It was cool, windy, and most of all, refreshing... Exhaling slightly, he leaned back a little placing both crimson-gloved hands upon the flowing blades of grass he sat upon. Averting his gaze from in front of him to the ocean blue skies above, he smiled slightly reminiscing all the while.

_How long has it been since that day...? I begin to wonder what life would be like if she weren't the one that was sent to go and assassinate Colette. It's not that I wasn't upset when there was someone sent to try and kill a dear friend of mine, but to be honest... The moment I laid my eyes on her..._

As the scene about shifts white, it turns into a flashback. The pixels in the scene before him were hazy, like an old fashioned movie and everything was rendered in a gray, black, and white manner. Talk about reminiscing in a fancy manner... Ha.

"Stop!" shouted a girl.

The sound came not too far away as Lloyd and his companions entered the Ossa Mountain Trail. All of them came to a stop as they gazed around confused, and put on the alert. Where did the voice come from? Soon enough, a naïve little chosen gazed up quizzical eyes and spotted a girl clothed in unique attire. This female assailant just above them was clothed in a light lavender kunoichi gi. The first to speak among Lloyd's group was none other than Lloyd himself.

"W-What?"

"Is she a friend of yours, Lloyd?" Colette asked.

"Erm. Not that I'm aware of, Colette..." he replied.

The ninja girl just above them on the heightened ledge gazed down as menacingly as she could, but with the gentle eyes she had, it only went to the extent of being a "mean yet cute" expression. The girl, feeling that she was ignored, spoke up once more stepping forward a bit more.

"...Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" she asked.

"Oh! That's me!" Colette immediately responded.

Within seconds, the kunoichi leapt down the cliff and then slid out three, small and rectangular sheets of what seemed to be paper from her sleeves. This action in turn caused Kratos to arch a brow from beneath his lengthy dark auburn bangs. The female assailant however, was now taking the initiative.

"...Prepare to die...!" she exclaimed while dashing at Colette.

Oh my, quite the lively assassin she was, but this agility and skill she had as a kunoichi, it would produce no success as the "Chosen's" clumsiness would prevail in the end. Just as soon as the ninja girl dashed at Colette, Colette began to stumble backwards and lost her balance. Oh dear, and now there seemed to be this conveniently placed lever right beside what seemed to be a "trap door". Oops...! "It was an accident!", seemed to be the expression played all over Colette's face as she toggled the lever.

It would be labeled a good thing for Colette that the moment she triggered the lever, it was also the moment that the assailant stepped upon the hollow wood. Wait... Hollow? That never was a good sign at all, at least, in this situation. An anime fashion sweatdrop appeared behind the heads of Lloyd, Genis, Raine, and eventually Colette herself.

"Uh-oh..." Lloyd, Genis, and Raine chorused.

"Uh-oh..." Colette followed up.

It seems Kratos was the only one who remained silent throughout the duration of this little hectic scene. Colette's eyes widened slightly as she heard the hollow wooden door drop open causing the ninja girl to fall to what appeared to be an endless dark hole. The poor girl, hopefully she would be all right.

"Oh, no! What should I do? I did it again..." the female Chosen sighed.

"You don't need to worry about it..." Raine started.

"If she had not fallen in, you might have been killed..." she finished.

"But..." Colette tried to think of something else to say.

And now, our twin-bladed hero stepped into the fray cutting the conversation between the knowledgeable Professor and the naïve Chosen. Folding his arms across his chest, he exhaled slightly and then looked over at the hole that didn't seem to end. Unable to shake the feeling of guilt from his chest, he gazed back to the others.

"Well... I guess I do feel a bit sorry for her..." he commented.

"I hope she's okay." Colette chipped in.

"Hmm." Genis himself walked over to the "trap-door".

As the child-like scholar scanned the characteristics of the surroundings, he nodded a bit and then folded his arms across his chest. Trying to act and sound as intelligible as possible, he began to give his insight and knowledge of the incident.

"Even assuming her weight to be 45 kg," he paused for a moment and blinked.

"...and this hole to be 10m deep, and calculating the gravity constant at 9.8, the impact shouldn't have been fatal at all..." Genis concluded.

The simple-minded warrior craned his head to the side slightly and wondered just what in the name of Sylvarant was he talking about?! Was he ranting on and trying to show off his knowledge once more? Ugh. This was why he never paid heed to the class lessons. The words that they used were so... difficult and frustrating.

"Wha? Gravity... constant?" Lloyd stated, slightly dazed.

"I don't understand what you said at all, but she's alive, right?" he continued.

Genis smiled and nodded, as he knew he was never wrong. Perhaps there were times that he was a little inaccurate, but he always turned out right in the end. So would this time be an exception? Most likely not, but one could never be too sure.

"Probably..." he simply stated.

"Still, man, she's got some bad luck. Standing right on top of a trap door and all..." commented the twin-bladed warrior.

_The moment I laid my eyes on her... I felt that at the time, I fell in love. And perhaps even now, I feel strongly for her. But sometimes, I'm unsure if these feelings of mine are truly... sincere._

The flashback ended and the young man opened his eyes all of a sudden, seeing that it was daybreak and the sun was about to rise in the distance. As the sphere of light began to rise ever-so gradually, Lloyd found himself shielding his eyes from the light until he felt that his vision adjusted to the sudden change of lighting. Sylvarant was nice, no doubt, but here in Tethe'alla, it was magnificent.

"Hey..." a soft, gentle voice resonated in the air.

Lloyd turned around slowly and faced himself in the direction behind him. Tilting his head to the side, he realized that it was none other than the cute yet clumsy ninja girl he has come to know and perhaps... love? Smiling, he moved his dangling legs away from the edge of the cliff and then shifted himself to sitting in a cross-legged position.

"Hey... Sheena!" Lloyd exclaimed.

This caused the kunoichi to blink for a moment and then nod a little. It felt a little awkward each time she approached him by herself, but every time she did so, she always found more courage the next time to approach him, until like now, she found it to be easy to approach him and be open...

"You've been up here for quite some time. Are you okay...?" she asked.

Wait a second. It was just Sheena that came all the way up here to see him? It wasn't that he wanted her not to be here, it was just surprising to him that she'd come up all this way just to check up on him.

"I'm okay, but... you came all this way to check up on me...?" asked Lloyd.

"O-Of course!" Sheena replied.

The twin-bladed warrior craned his head to the side for a moment and then gazed at her for a moment, slightly spaced out. Sheena returned his gaze with a cheerful smile and a light blush on her face. Walking on over to Lloyd, she then poked her nose as he came within arms' length. Giggling slightly as she saw him snap out of his trance, she remained standing looking down at him.

Feeling his cheeks blush a bit as well, he stood up slowly and then dusted off his generic red uniform given to him by Dirk, his supposed "father". Nodding a bit at her, he placed a hand behind his head grinning sheepishly. It was rare to have moments like this to be alone with Sheena, but he was always cherishing times like this.

"So... Why are you up here? We were all worried about you..." Sheena paused for a moment but then brought up the courage to finish what she wanted to say.

"Especially me..." she said.

"You were... worried about me?" Lloyd inquired.

This caused Sheena to blush deep red as she looked to the side feeling nervous. Perhaps she shouldn't have said that at all. She wasn't being her usual self, lively and energetic. Perhaps Lloyd would catch on but right now, he still was in the dark and oblivious as usual. Augh, why couldn't he just realize how she felt towards him... It's been about a month or so already that they have been together and he still hasn't noticed?

"...You're so insensitive sometimes, Lloyd." Sheena commented and then stuck her tongue out in a teasing manner. Cute, but at the same time taunting.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" exclaimed the twin-blade warrior.

"Just what it means. Duh, silly! Come on now, let's head back to Meltokio before everyone else begins to worry about me, too!" Sheena said, forcing a smile.

_When will he notice me? These feelings I have for him... we might not be made for each other, but everything in life always deserves a chance, right? Nothing will ever be achieved if I just try to get him to understand... I have to tell him...!_

Just as the ninja girl broke away from her thoughts, she looked around for a moment noticing the sapphire tinted Rheaird parked not too far off from where he was sitting. She blushed faintly wondering why she traveled all the way here by foot when she could have taken one of the extra Rheairds. Ah, well, perhaps it was just the fact that she was too overly worried about Lloyd to care about what manner she traveled by to get to him. Lloyd, who just now noticed how her clothes were slightly ragged from traveling, dusted her off gently.

"Did you travel here... by foot?" Lloyd inquired, craning his head to the side.

Sheena blushed faintly and then looked to the side folding her arms across her chest. So he noticed? That was a first. Her gaze was averted back to the twin-bladed warrior as he himself cupped her chin gently and then made her face him.

"You know you didn't have to go out of your way like that to get me. Especially by yourself... You could have gotten hurt or worse..." Lloyd whispered.

The ninja girl felt her whole body heat up faintly, the cool wind contrasting the feeling of her figure. What was this all of a sudden? Lloyd seemed to be so... open and affectionate, at least, that was what she thought. The hand that cupped her chin ever so gently, she nuzzled against it lightly and then closed her eyes. His touch was... uplifting, like the feeling of drinking hot chocolate on a snowy day. Hn, it was too bad she couldn't compare the feeling in a different manner, but that wasn't the focus here anyways.

"Lloyd..." Sheena couldn't help but call out.

"Are you alright...? Is something the matter?" he asked.

"N-No, it's nothing... I just felt like calling out your name..." she replied.

He blinked for a moment and wondered if she really was alright and then began to place his hand which cupped her chin to her forehead, right beneath her dark lavender bangs. In doing so, she too, blinked and then wondered why he was being so... concerned. She didn't really mind it, but Lloyd, being sensitive and caring? This must be a dream... right?

"You're so strange sometimes, Sheena, but that's what I like about you. You're different from Colette..." Lloyd commented.

"Oh. Colette..." Sheena whispered, sounding disappointed.

Why did he have to bring her up into this conversation? She knew he meant well in saying that, but couldn't there be a conversation that _didn't_ bring up Colette? It was always, _"Colette this," _and _"Colette that,"_... just once, Sheena wished that _she_ could be the center of attention. It sounded... selfish, but it was only right as even Raine got more attention than she did...

"Did I say something wrong, Sheena?"

"No... Nothing, just forget about it. Let's get going..." she replied.

"All right, but we're going back by Rheaird."

Sheena turned slightly red at the suggestion but didn't argue. As she followed Lloyd to the machine, she sat down behind him quite close. Finding that there was nothing else to hold onto except Lloyd, she exhaled softly and then wrapped his arms around his waist leaning her head on his back. Both of them blushed, but neither said a word on the way back to Meltokio.

As they flew along their way, the only sound that was heard was the sound of the wind rushing past and against them, and the engine of the Rheaird whirring. With the sun slowly and gradually rising behind them, the light shed itself upon the land and revealed the contour of the grand city of Meltokio. They were almost there... were it not for the Rheaird; it would have taken much longer what with the monsters traversing the traveling trails. As he landed slowly onto the ground beside the other Rheairds, Lloyd finally gazed back to Sheena to see that she's fallen asleep.

Smiling gently, he then turned around completely, but slowly so as not to awaken her. Carrying her up and cradling her in his arms, Lloyd then took her to Zelos' mansion where everyone was staying at the moment. That was quite a walk and going up those stairs... by the time he arrived to the mansion, he himself was exhausted. Knocking on the door lightly, he found Zelos' butler opening it slowly.

"Ah, Sir Bud, you've finally returned. Everyone is still asleep except for Master Zelos, Duke Bryant, and Madam Raine..." he whispered.

"Urgh. I told you, my name isn't 'Bud'." Lloyd retorted.

The butler didn't really pay any heed after answering the door and let Lloyd and Sheena in. As he walked on in carrying Sheena, he found Regal standing near the stairway arms folded across his chest. As for Zelos and Raine, they were sitting back on the spare lounge chairs fast asleep, separately, of course.

"Ah, you're finally back, Lloyd." Regal whispered, gazing up slowly.

"Yeah... Sorry about wandering off like that..."

Regal gave a thoughtful expression as he saw him carrying Sheena in his arms. Grinning faintly, he couldn't help but chuckle quietly. The twin-bladed warrior blinked and wondered what was so funny and realized that the sleeping ninja girl was nibbling on his earlobe gently, talk about being intimate. Lloyd himself felt his face turn red as he slowly pulled Sheena away but continued to cradle her in his arms.

"How long have you three been up?" Lloyd asked.

"Well, I woke up the moment I heard the front door close. I suppose it went the same for Raine and Zelos. Genis, Colette, and Presea didn't hear you go out so of course they're still resting in their rooms. Summing it all up, we were awake since midnight, but after waiting for quite a while, Raine dozed off and then Zelos followed shortly thereafter."

"I see," Lloyd whispered.

"...Well, sorry to have kept you all waiting up for me. You didn't have to really."

"True, but we did anyways. So there's no point in worrying." Regal replied.

Slowly, the ninja girl held in Lloyd's arms began to stir and eventually awaken. Blinking for a moment, she wondered where she was and realized by the surroundings that she was back at Zelos' mansion. Moving all of a sudden not knowing she was being cradled in Lloyd's arms, she broke free of his grasp only to fall to the ground.

"Ack!" Sheena exclaimed, sitting up slowly.

"Aah, Sheena, are you alright?" Lloyd asked.

"Oww... I'm fine... I'm fine, Lloyd..." she replied.

The sudden sound of her falling caused both Raine and Zelos to stir in their sleep slightly but both remained asleep nonetheless. They must have been very tired. As Lloyd looked over to them, he couldn't help but feel guilty for indirectly making them wait for him. True, they chose to wait for him of their own will, but if he hadn't gone out in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. It then fell back to the fact that if he hadn't gone out, Sheena wouldn't have chased after him.

Sheena immediately got up and then dusted off his lavender colored kunoichi gi and then blinked for a moment looking around. It was still quite early and everyone looked exhausted. Gazing back to Lloyd who was somewhat tired himself; she tapped him on the nose lightly and then grinned sheepishly.

"You look like you need some sleep."

"Yeah. I suppose so, Sheena. I've just been thinking a lot lately." Lloyd replied.

This triggered Regal's sense of intuition and then he got up and headed upstairs without another word as he didn't want to disturb the two. Of course, Raine and Zelos were asleep on the lounge chairs, so they couldn't possibly hear what would be going on between the two now, could they? Taking one last glance to the other two assuming that they were asleep, Sheena nodded and then looked to Lloyd with a quizzical expression.

"About what, Lloyd?" she inquired.

"Well... to be honest..." Lloyd slightly fidgeted finding solace in leaning back against the cool surface of the wall.

"I was thinking about... you." He finished.

This in turn caused Sheena to blush and then look to the side, his dark lavender bangs falling over his face. She was quite... flustered.

"Wh-Why me?" she asked.

Their voices slightly increased in tone but they couldn't tell, as they were lost in their own world just talking to each other. Both of them seemed to be blushing quite a bit, as they stood there in silence. Unbeknownst to the two, the others upstairs that were presumably "asleep" were in fact quite awake watching below what was going on.

"Because... I..."

"Because you what?" Sheena pressed.

Upstairs, it seemed that a certain blonde haired Chosen was watching everything intently and for once, she felt somewhat... jealous. She had been with Lloyd longer than this ninja girl he was talking to. Why was it that Lloyd blushed a lot more and acted somewhat shy around Sheena lately?

"Well... Because I..." Lloyd struggled for the words to say.

It dawned upon the female Chosen that he... No, it couldn't be... Just then, everything went bleak in her world and she just felt the need to shout. Which of course, she did.

"No--!" Colette screamed.

This in turn startled everyone about her, but she didn't care. Tears streamed down her face as she gripped tightly on the lengthy satin white sleeves that were too long for her arms. This couldn't be happening... She... cared for Lloyd; she even had feelings for him to the extent that she perhaps even _loved_ him. Why her? Why this odd stranger that she and the others had met not too long ago?

Hearing all this conversation and now this outburst from Colette, Zelos and Raine no longer remained "asleep" and then sat up slowly acting as if they didn't know just what was going on. Raine ran a hand through her silver colored hair and then exhaled a bit.

"What _is_ going on here?" Raine exclaimed.

"I'd like to know the same thing." Zelos chimed in.

Both Sheena and Lloyd stood there quietly, somewhat uncomfortable that they were seen talking to each other in a rather, intimate manner. Of course, Sheena would be feeling a bit awkward that she was showing even the slightest of affection to Lloyd, but Lloyd on the other hand, who was quite close to Colette as well felt... distorted. Who did he feel strongly for the most?

"Lloyd... I..." Colette fidgeted slightly, gripping her sleeves tighter.

"Lloyd..." Sheena whispered quietly at the same time as Colette.

Colette stood there closing her eyes, head bowed to the ground. Her blonde colored bangs fell over eyes casting a small shadow from the gentle light coming from the chandelier not too far off. She was never one to tell it to him, but there was something she needed to say... Yet there was... hesitation...

Sheena all the while, having grown attached to Lloyd, felt a twisting pain in her heart and that this pain wouldn't stop unless she told Lloyd. Though, did she have the nerve to say it? She had to...

_"I love you!"_

Zelos blinked as he sat there still confused by it all. All that he could seem to say was a simple and somewhat sleepy-like...

"Uh-oh..."

--

"Uh-oh..." indeed. Anyways, thank you for taking your time to read this fanfiction of mine and I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have had writing it. Let me know what you think through review (please, criticism is fine as long as it's constructive, or something reasonable to back up your statement).

--

Even if I love you to death...  
You may realize only 1/3 of my feelings...  
My pure emotions are swinging wide,  
My heart cannot even say "I love you".


End file.
